After watching the news and reading about crime, sometimes I feel like our home, our cocoon, is being watched by a hungry predator.

And yet, I feel like we are overcoming the enemy of ungodliness.

Because we are happy.

Sure, we have bad days. Just read my blog awhile. We aren’t perfect. We argue, disagree, and make plenty of mistakes. We crave material possessions and don’t seek God enough.

We don’t laugh all the time or smile constantly. We’re just a pretty average family. But our happiness runs deeply because it comes from joy. Joy grows from a deep contentment for the good and the bad because God is good. All the time.

I ran across this article by The American Chronicle, titled, “Secrets of Happier Families.”

According to research that crosses socioeconomic lines, there are seven similarities happy families have in common:

Priority is placed on the primary relationship

Respect for children

Time spent together

Regular family meetings

Open and honest communication

Showing appreciation

A spiritual focus

I don’t think this article was written from a Christian perspective and I would put them in a different order. But aren’t these the reasons Christians should be happy?

The author ends with this, “What these findings do tell us is what most of us on some level already know but do not consistently practice. Namely, that a cohesive family unit that is willing to work daily at creating a loving, respect-filled, secure, and mutually supportive environment for one another in spite of external pressures can thrive… even in today´s uncertain world.”

Comments

OK so not sure if it’s that we’re both in Texas or what but I almost wrote this exact same post today. Happiness vs. Joy. I posted my interview with Villainous Company instead cause I wanted to tweak it some more. But now when I post it everyone will think I am copying you! Grumble grumble. You RAWK as usual!

This has been on my mind lately, too. God must be trying to tell us all something.

Anyway, this post really spoke to me becuase while we are happy, I don’t feel we’re as “together” and respectful of all family members as we could be. I feel like I’m doing this all on my own some days and want to give hubby a quick kick to his boys. Lovely, huh? Yeah, I’m a pastor’s wife…

Seriously though I hope to take something away from this article and start building a HAPPIER home!

Kristen. You hit the nail on the head with this one, in a way that I can relate to. I feel hungry for more of this type of information. A little information, and a little inspiration to keep trying, you know? If you ever wrote a book, I’d be all over that.

Trying to chose joy everyday. I feel happy and love those days when I close my eyes….even with a twinge of mommy guilt most days….but still able to fall asleep with asense of “life is precious, life is sweet, the the ground beneath my feet” oh wait…thats a song! lol

I am chronically happy. I look on the bright side, find the silver lining to the annoyance of my mom- who will often say ‘stop being so positive’…..however, I can and have sunk into deep depression once or twice since I had my kids. So it seems I go to extremes…

But I really can find joy in everything. And if it is a bad day- well sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying!

Happiness. How come it is so hard for many of us to “accept” it. We need to learn to be happy with what we have and what we DON’T have. I love your posting, your thoughts and especailly your spirit. You are an example to many but what matters most is to be an example to your children. Mission accomplished. Keep it up!

Sometimes my eyes get to wandering and my ears get to listening to my fears and I get all upside down. At that point I’m miserable. It is a constant exercise in getting my eyes fixed on Jesus and my ears to focus again on His word. When I do that, I am amazed at how wonderfully content I am.

Even in my trials I am happy because I know and have full assurance that I can rest in the mighty hand of God because He holds my future and knows what’s best for me!

I love this quote:

There is nothing–no circumstance, no trouble, no testing–that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment. But as I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to Him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is–that is the rest of victory!

Kristen,I don’t normally leave comments, just enjoy your writing really, but today I feel led to leave a thought. Your topic today “Happiness” hits a nerve. I just turned my computer on and read that Randy Pausch died today. He was the infamous professor dying of pancreatic cancer who gave the “Last Lecture” speech. The news of his death actually brought me to tears. I found him to be so inspiring because in all his pain, physical and emotional, he still found the strength to be happy and have fun. I love this quote from him, “We don’t beat the reaper by living longer, we beat the reaper by living well and living fully.” We should all remember that. Let it sink in. In times that we feel down because someone forgot our birthday, or the baby just puked in the backseat, or the dog chewed your favorite pair of flip flops, remember….. We should celebrate life no matter how crazy it seems because it is a gift and there is no guarantee how long God will let us stay here and play. –

I love saying that, yes I am happy. Very happy. I know where and what God wants me to be and to do. I feel his purpose in my life and I accept it wholeheartedly. That makes me happy. Selfishly, I have a terrific husband who respects, loves, understands, and supports me. I have two healthy kids who are having a blast growing up in a stable home. And I have sisters, parents, inlaws, friends, that are wonderful people. That all makes me happy. And I have great friends through my blog that I would have never imagined. That also makes me happy.

I remember once when I was very young, my mom asked my what I wanted to thank God for. I thought about it and said I wanted to thank Him for creating such a beautiful world for us to live in. She said “but it’s not beautiful, there are things like spiders and snakes and disease and earthquakes and hurricanes.” I didn’t understand why those couldn’t be beautiful too. I still feel that way.

I don’t think the order is important. It’s having all the elements that counts. I am so fortunate that we have these in our little family. And for the most part, I am grateful that I am a very happy person.

HI! I'm Kristen. I'm here to encourage you as a wife and mom and remind you there's a little bit of THAT family in all of us. I write books, run Mercy House and try to remember I am third (God first, others second). I'm glad you're here.